As is well known and understood, as the demand for housing increases, the housing industry responds by building additional residential developments. As is also well known, as these developments are constructed, the "sign industry" is called upon to create long-term signage--not only at the entrance to the development, but throughout its streets. Such signage is selected by the developers, generally to convey a distinctive feeling about the community under construction, especially to prospective purchasers.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the "sign industry", most developers prefer three-dimensional letters on these signs, for several reasons: a) because a simple, flat-painted sign tends to fade out over the years; and b) the elegance of three-dimensional signage adds the appearance of higher value and a sense of permanence to the community. As a result, the letters on these signs were originally either hand-carved, or cut out by hand and applied to an appropriate background.
Recently, however--and to keep up with a growing demand--, a further technique was developed to create such three-dimensional signage, using less materials and taking less time in the manufacture. According to such technique--"sandblasting"--, a rubber masking material is laid out where the lettering will be placed on a wooden sign blank, with the background then eroded away with a high-pressure sandblast unit, typically employing a 10 hp compressor. The end result was a smooth, flat letter raised out of a high-relief, woodgrain-patterned background.
As is additionally well known, such an arrangement produces not only a three-dimensional sign, but one in which the exposed woodgrain adds a natural element to the sign, that is missing in the more sterile-looking flat signage of previous use. In particular, the "sandblasted" wood process produced such a rich-looking sign that the technique quickly spread from the housing developments to store-front signs, and to all types of custom signage and decorating, especially once "sandblasted" redwood signs began to gain popularity. Unfortunately, even though "redwood" is the preferred lumber for these sign constructions (because it is generally impervious to insects and weathers exceptionally well and provides a rich appearance), only a small percentage of the wood from a cut redwood tree is suitable for the sign industry.
In particular, the redwood which is usable must be free of knots, come from the inner part of the tree, and must possess a vertical grain when viewed from the end of the board laying flat in order for the sandblasting force to blast-away the soft wood between the harder grain. Experience, on the other hand, has shown that even such an acceptable redwood sign blank has to undergo a very labor intensive, involved process before the completed sign is ready to be installed.
1) Most clear, knot-free, vertical-grain redwood from the inner part of the tree is available only as 1" to 2" by 11" planks--whose edges have to be trimmed, routed to accept wooden splines to join two planks together, and the necessary number of planks then splined once again, glued and clamped overnight to provide sufficient area for the sign to be fabricated.
2) Then, the sign panel has to be cut to size with a circular saw, or cut to shape with a jigsaw, its face sanded with a belt sander to remove the joints between the planks and to level them, and then further sanded with an orbital sander to remove the scratches left by the belt sander.
3) A sealer is applied next to seal out any moisture and to seal in any sap that may cause discoloration in the paint finish. Once the sealer is dry, the panel is primed on front and back with a white pigmented primer to block out the color of the wood so as to provide a base for the subsequent coats of paint; which--once dry--the primer is then sanded smooth and a coat of enamel or other lettering color applied as a finish coat.
4) The lettering and graphics for the sign are then cut from a self-adhesive rubber masking material and applied to the face of the panel, the panel is then sandblasted by a large compressor employing a variety of blasting materials, and the painted surface surrounding the letters blasted away along with, usually, 1/4"-1/2" of the redwood panel.
5) The "blasted" area is then painted with the masking still in place--but if sprayed on, the paint has been noted to soak in and require several coats in order to provide adequate protection for the wood; if, as is normal, the paint is brushed on, unsightly deposits of paint often are left around the lettering and the masking needs to be removed while the background paint is still wet. Both these operations are quite messy.
Thus, the present practice of creating three-dimensional redwood signs painted with a background color and a lettering color will be seen to be quite labor intensive. As such, the signs are quite costly to manufacture and take many days to produce. As will also be recognized by those skilled in the art, the woodworking and painting processes tend to be tedious and time consuming-- and require equipment, tools and materials to be stocked, as well as having to train skilled craftsmen to do the work. Even when performed perfectly well, moreover, the situation becomes all that more frustrating once the sign is installed, as where it is emplaced in a location where it is surrounded by landscaping and wetted down by sprinklers utilized in watering the shrubbery. In particular, experience has shown that a hot sun and a good soaking causes the glue joints of the redwood planks to delaminate, and the signs to split across their face. Obviously, not only does the workmanship then appear shoddy to the eyes of the client, but the situation requires an expenditure of time and money to repair.